Food Habits

Larvae are endoparasites of birds and mammals. They bore into the skin of their hosts, either through pre-existing lesions in the skin or through active piercing, and become established in the subcutaneous layer. Breathing air through their posterior spiracles and employing body spines as anchors, D. hominis larvae use their sclerotized mouthparts to bore deeper into the host's body as they feed and grow on host tissue exudates. Feeding location on the host is not specific, as larvae have been found to establish at almost any exposed surface of the host's body, from the scrotum to the eye, although more frequently at more exposed regions of the body such as the leg and the back.